LGBTQ hurricane survivors are likely getting the same treatment from Houston agencies as everyone else, according to Alexis Melvin, president of the Houston-based Transgender Foundation of America (TFA).

“We feel strongly that will change as things get back to normal as we start to rely on federal and state help, because this is all local,” she said.

Melvin explained that Houston’s local agencies are generally LGBTQ friendly. She fears that as state and federal agencies take charge of relief efforts in coming weeks, LGBTQ survivors may see a shift in attitudes.

“We started raising money specifically for that reason, and we basically started a trans, genderqueer and intersex fund, so we can do some things to support people who start having trouble getting access to various state and federal facilities.”

Melvin said TFA is also raising money to help transgender people who lost their ID cards during the storm. “We have heard from a lot of people whose IDs are gone,” she said. “Basically, they lost everything in the flood. They have no IDs, no paperwork.”

Melvin said this is a particularly challenging problem for transgender survivors who have spent a significant amount of time and money getting their ID cards updated.

“We’re going to start by assisting with that if necessary, because you can’t get anything if you don’t have an ID these days,” Melvin explained.